Falling Petals
by Kazukagi
Summary: “Did you know, they say sakura petals fall at a rate of 5 centimeters per second?” “Hmm?” Ichigo looked back, "What fall now?" AU, Oneshot, IchiRuki


Disclaimer: I don't own bleach. I don't make money off of this fanfiction. Leave my alone layers!

**A/N: I was rebuilding a computer when I was suddenly struck with a spear of inspiration. Once I finished building the computer, I booted up the word processor on it and cranked this baby out. I'll stop boring you, and write more about the conception at the bottom. Happy reading.**

Falling Petals

"Did you know, they say sakura petals fall at a rate of 5 centimeters per second?"

"Hmm?" Ichigo looked back, a sting in his eye as he turned to face the breeze. Two steps to turn around, and the crunching of leaves beneath his feet is all around him. "What fall now?" He ask calmly.

She seemed like an oil painting, the illusion of movement hiding a still statue. Underneath the giant sakura tree in his backyard, she stood absolutely still as the breeze licked her skirt up past her thighs, the jet black hair knocking lightly against the back of her neck. Hands outstretched, she stared into her palms distantly, as small cherry blossoms fell around her.

"Sakura petals." She said absently. "That's how fast they fall to the ground." Eyes trained on the small collection of blossoms that had fallen into her hands.

"So?" Ichigo questioned, now too eying the growing collection. For a second, Rukia bit her lower lip, then a small sigh, and she let her hands cave inward, the pink petals floating lazily to the ground.

"It seems like such a fleeting existence for something so beautiful, don't you think?" She sighed quietly, watching the petals fall. Most of them hit the ground, but a lucky few caught a gust of wind, and slowly ascended back into the sky, before raining down back to earth in a pink storm.

"So fragile, so weak, so easily influenced by outside forces. Only destined to fall to the ground and wilt. Even if caught by a gust of wind..."

"It only delays the inevitable..." Ichigo finished, completing the young women's thoughts. Slowly, Ichigo crossed the petal strewn lawn, and when he could smell her lilac shampoo, a purple among the pink, he placed a light hand on her shoulder.

"That was rather melancholic. Mind telling me what's up?" His voice lazy, sounding non-interested, yet containing a hint of concern. Rukia grabbed the hand from her shoulder, and placed it against her cheek, the feeling coarse, yet gentle skin on her own.

"Keep replaying it over and over in my mind, and I just can't see a happy ending. I can't help but wonder if..." She touched his hand with her own, fighting the desire to cry and instead gave a sort of sob-laugh.

"If?" He had dropped his cool-yet-uncaring charade, his voice filled with genuine concern over her state of mind. Meeting her eye level, Ichigo bent onto his kneed, the whole time never breaking eye contact, or contact between his hand and her face.

"If we're bound to end up the same way, left on the ground to wilt." She confided, squeezing his hand with her own. At the sound of slight laughing, Rukia opened the violet eyes she hadn't even realized were closed, to be greeted by the sight of his warm smile.

"You know, you described love pretty well back there." he said, that smile never once leaving his face, or his eyes. "Love is fragile, love is weak. Love is easily influenced by outside forces. Whether by distance, customs, hatred or death, love is always in danger of failing, and always destined to end one day. Even if two people never fall out of love, eventually one person dies, and then the other. In that regard, our love is very much like a sakura petal, falling at five centimeters per second towards the ground."

"Ichigo..." She was cut off, he placed his forehead onto hers, their eyes an inch or two apart, their lips even closer. She could smell him now, that strange yet intoxicating aroma that seemed to engulf her every time he came this close.

"But unlike a sakura petal, I don't intend to fall to the ground without a fight." It was sincere, yet firm, a brazen yet fiery declaration. "When you gave up your rights as a Kuchiki and a shinigami, didn't I swear to you that I would be by your side as long as I had the power?"

"Ichigo..." Eyes wide, she was again cut off, but by the joining of two different facial features, moaning slightly as his lips playfully toyed with her own. Then, as if calculated, he let his lips recede from her own just as she began to notice her shortness of breath. Pulling back from her, Ichigo pulled them both up to their feet, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Rukia one day our love will fade away. Maybe you'll have to go back to Soul Society and I'll be stuck her, perhaps one of us will be reincarnated as somebody else. Hell, maybe someday Byakuya will just get tired of me and finish the job. Ten years, a hundred years, maybe thousands, someday, our love will fade away. But..."

He pulled her close now, wrapping the petite girl in a strong embrace, smiling at her yelp of fright as they came so close together.

"But I will never, not even for a second, forget to love you, so long as I draw breath. Plus, I know you too well Rukia, and I know you'd swear the same to me." Smiling, Ichigo let the embrace go, pointing a thumb at his chest. "Put your faith in me. Let us fall at five centimeters per second, so long as I'm with you, it'll be a long way to the ground."

Smiling softly, Rukia took a few steps away from Ichigo, placing her hands out before her again as she let the petals fall into her hands. "I just played out that scenario in my head as well." She said softly.

"And?" Ichigo gave a small laugh. With a burst of wind, Rukia suddenly looked up, flashing Ichigo her biggest smile.

"I like it."

XxXxX

**As stated before I came up with this idea while rebuilding a computer, though having 5 cm per Second on in the back round helped me along, I'm sure. For those who don't know, this story is based slightly off of the OVA "5 Centimeters Per Second: A Chain of Short Stories About Their Distance". I'm often accused of being the most sentimental of my group, and yet I haven't met a person yet who can sit through that movie and not feel their heat tugged on, and I've only met one person who didn't cry. (Yes I cried, shut up.) In any case, it inspired me to write this. I know Ichigo is a little out of character, but dammit, he's in love. He should be out of character.**


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